It doesn't seem like that much -- just 20 feet. But in the case of
backup singers, that's roughly the distance separating them from the
front of the stage, and it can be an intimidating gulf, indeed.

"It's a bit of a walk," Bruce Springsteen explains in the documentary
"Twenty Feet From Stardom," a film about those unheralded, harmonizing
heroes of so many American pop music classics. "The walk from back by
the drummer to up here, it's a bit complicated."

It's that complicated walk that director Morgan Neville explores in
his ebullient but informative film, a bright and richly assembled
musical history tour that doubles as both a study of the logistics of
being a backup singer as well as an introduction to the faces behind the
largely anonymous voices on some of the rock world's most enduring
classics.

It's also a crowd-pleaser, through and through. That's because what
becomes evident while watching "20 Feet From Stardom" -- which got its
local debut as the opening-night film at April's Louisiana International
Film Festival, and which gets a full run at the Chalmette Movies
starting Friday (Aug. 30) -- is Neville's genuine appreciation for his
subjects. Far from content to just mouth the words, he gives them their
due, respectfully, lovingly and, at times, playfully. They pay him back
by being themselves.

With Neville using a nice mix of archival footage, new interviews, as
well as a nicely played reunion, what emerges is part musical history
lesson, part performance film and part character study -- all of which
combines to become its own song of hope and inspiration.

Helping to tell the story are such familiar names as Springsteen,
Mick Jagger and Bette Midler. But, for once, they're not the stars of
the show here. That distinction belongs to the women at the center of it
all -- and men, but mostly women -- whose voices you almost certainly
know, even if you don't know their names. They are people like the New
Orleans-born Merry Clayton, whose long list of professional credits
dates back to 1962 and includes such songs as The Rolling Stones'
"Gimmie Shelter" and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama"; as well as
performances with Darlene Love, Tata Vega, Judith Hill, Lisa Fischer,
Claudia Lennear and others.

If those names aren't familiar to you, sit tight. That will change by
the time Neville's film is over. Not only does he give them their due,
but he gives them a chance to share their side of the story and,
finally, a forum to let their characters shine as brightly and
beautifully as their voices have for decades.

In the process, he asks (and answers) some key questions: Who are
these women, really? What are they stories? And why aren't they bigger
stars?

That last question, the big one, hints at one of the great
misconceptions about backup singers: that they are backup singers
because they don't have the pipes or the personality to hold down the
front of the stage. After all, if they were really good, we
would know their names, right? They would have become more than
Raelettes, Ronettes or Blossoms. Turns out, that's couldn't be further
from the truth.

So why don't more of them -- as talented as they are -- make that
"complicated" 20-foot walk to the lead-singer's microphone? Sometimes
it's because they're happy in the comparatively pressure-free position
in the background. Sometimes it's only because of bad luck. Sometimes it
has to do with the material they've been given to sing. And sometimes
-- oftentimes, even -- the culprit is just so much music industry horse
pucky.

"When you're a background singer, it is a springboard at the
beginning," says Hill, who collaborated memorably with Michael Jackson
shortly before his death. "But it can easily become quicksand if that's
not what you want to do."

The ladies of "Twenty Feet," however, prove that none of them should
be underestimated. They've got voices, they've got personality in
spades, they've got skins on the wall -- and they'll have, and hold,
your attention in Neville's film. That's because they also all clearly
harbor a deep love for singing -- and so even if they've not been
invited to drink at the well of superstardom, they're still happy to be
getting paid for doing what they love.

And that is something worth singing about.

_____

20 FEET FROM STARDOM4 stars, out of 5

Snapshot: A documentary shining a spotlight on those unheralded heroes of American popular music: the backup singers.

What works: The women on which Neville focuses his
camera are a wonderful lot, full of spirit, humor and talent. They are
overdue for recognition, and Neville does a nice job of delivering it.